Method of and apparatus for mounting filaments



Oct. 29, 1929.

G. ILLINGWQRTH METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING FILAMENTS Original Filed-Jan. 1.9. 1926 I i m. I

l ll! .7232 YEN Tux-L 5303 SE .72: .Z'NEJ/EUH IE2;

.HI s ArraRNEx'.

Patented Get. 29, 1929 GEQBGE ILLING'WOBTH, OF EAST CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR 1'0 GENERAL ELECTBIQ GGMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING- FILAMENTS Original applicationflled January 19, 1926, Serial No. 82,370; Divided and this December 11, 1928.

My invention relates to methods and apparatus for automatically mounting filaments of electric incandescent lamps and similar articles. This application is a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 82,370 filed January 19, 1926, for automatic machines for manufacturing electric incandescent lamps and similar articles. That application relates to an automatic machine for making mounts, and specifically discloses a rotatable carrier having mounted thereon a number of holders each adapted to receive and hold a pair of lead wires and operating mechanisms located in thepath of travel of the said carrier, each adapted to perform a particular operation upon the lead wires; A species of the mounting apparatus of the present application is one'of these mechanisms. In the accompanying description and drawings of a species of my invention from which the various features and advantages of my invention will appear, only such portion of the complete machine is disclosed as is immediately connected with the operation of the mounting mechanism. The method and apparatus herein disclosed may be practiced and utilized generally with or without association with the other mechanisms comprised in the aforesaid machine.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation of a filament mounting mechanism embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective thereof; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail on an enlarged scale; Fig. 4 is an elevation of one form of lamp mount whose filament is mounted according to my invention; and

Fig. 5 is an elevation of another form of mount whose filament may also be mounted according to my invention.

Referring now to the drawing, a rotatable carrier comprising the portion 10 has mounted. thereon a number of holders 11 each adapted to receive and hold a pair of substantially parallel lead wires 12. The carrier, as previously stated, serves to present the pairs of lead wires in succession to various operating mechanisms located in the path of travel thereof in order that they may be prepared to receive their filaments. All of the 0 mechanisms above referred to are clearly application filed Serial No. 325,248.

shown and described in my copending appli cation hereinbefore mentioned, and it is deemed sufficient to illustrate and describe such parts only of the machine as have a direct bearing upon my present invention.

Therefore, it is assumed that the lead Wires 12 have been acted on by the various other mechanisms to prepare them to receive a filament. The filaments are taken one at a time from a source of supply and carried to the an automatic transfer mechanism 'which retains the filament in its proper position between. the said lead wires until it is securely united thereto. s

The filaments may be supplied to the-trans- ,fer mechanism in various ways but for 0011- venience'I have located ad acentto the transfer mechanism a machine for automatically forming the filament wire into individual v69 upper ends of the lead wires 12 by means of 1 wire: As this machine is clearly shown and described in both my co-pending applications hereinbefore referred to, it is only necessary to show that portion of it from which the completed filamentiis taken by the transfer mechanism.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the

mechanism for transporting the filaments from their source of supply to the lead wires comprises a transfer arm 13 carried by a shaft 14 rotatably mounted in bearing 15 forming part of a standard 16. The arm 13 has pivotally mounted at its lower end apair of jaws 17 and 18 which are brought into position.

adjacent to the coiling machine so as to grasp a completed filament coil 19 held by the holding jaws 20 and 21 forming part of the said coiling machine. After receiving the coil 19,

the arm 13 is rotated toward the carrier 10 so as to permit the jaws 17 and 18 to place the said filament coil between the pair of lead somewhat higher than the jaw 17 so 'as to w secured to the lead wires by the closing of the hooks 22. The transfer jaw 17 has an extension 23, the end of which is connected to one arm of a crank 24 through a forked link 25. The crank 24 is pivotally mounted at 26 on the arm 13. T he opposite armbf the said crank carries a roller 27 which rides on a cam 28 which is rigidly fastened to the end of the shaft 14. The transfer jaw 18 is pivotally mounted at 29on the arm 13 and is operated from the jaw 17 through the links 30'and 31. A lever arm 32 pivotally mounted at 33 on the arm 13 connects at its opposite end to the extension 23 of the jaw 17.

In operation. as the arm 13 travels toward the filament supply source which. as shown, is the coiling machine, the jaws 17 and 18 are in their open position, the jaw 18 being raised clear the filament coil which is held in the holding jaws'20 and 21 as it passes over it. When the jaws 17 and 18 rea h their respective positions on opposite sides of the coil 19, the arm 13 is stopped from further movement by means of an adjustable'stop 34 which extends from the bracket 35. The arm 13 is not pinned to the sha t 14 but is moved entirelv by. friction of the fiber washers 36 which are under pressure of the coil spring 36, therefore not affecting the continued rotationof the shaft which rotates the cam 28. The rotation of the cam causes the roller 27 to ride off the high point thereon, thus operating the crank 24 so as to rotatethe jaw 17 on its pivot 37 therebv bringing it toward the waiting fi ament coil. The jaw 17 carries the jaw 18 toward the coil through the links As the cam 28 continues to rotate the roller 27 is caused to ride up a slight rise thereon thus rotating the lever arm 32 on its pivot 33 which in turn lowers the j aw 17 carrying with it the jaw 18. The shaft 14 which operates the arm 13 and cam 28, is actuated by means of a; slotted cam 38 mounted on the shaft 39. A lever arm40 pivotally mounted at 41 carries a roller 42 which rides in a cam slot (not shown) formed on the opposite side of the cam 38. The shape of the cam slot is such that at the proper time the shaft 14 is rotated through the roller 42,

lever arm 40, link 43, and arm 44 attached to the end of the said shaft.

After the jaws have been closed so as to grasp the filament coil and retain it in a substantially horizontal position, the arm 13 is rotated toward the -mount carrier 10 and eventually reaches the position shown in Fig. 1 where it is stopped from further movement by means of an adjustable stop 45 extending from bracket 46 forming part of the stand ard 16. At this point the filament coil 19 lies substantially at right angles to the lead wires "12, the legs or straight sections 47 extend- 1 ing through the hooks 22 formed on the upper ends of the said lead wires. The cam 28 now rotates causing the roller 27 to'ride upon a slight rise on the said cam, thus rotatingthecrank 24 so that its lower arm pulls-down on the link 25 causing the lever arm 32 to rotate about its pivot 33 through the extension 23 of the jaw 17. As the lever arm 32 rotates it moves both jaws 17 and 18 vertically upward a short distance. During this time the legs or straight portions 47 of the coil 19 are engaged by the hooks 22 so that the jaws bend the coiled portion of the filament up.- wardly a slight distance fromthe hooked ends of the lead wires (Fig. 3) so that the filament when united to the lead wires will .be arched, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. While the fila-- ment coil is still retained by the transfer jaws, 17 and 18 the open hook ends 22 of the lead wires are pressed together so as to securely hold the legs 47 of the filament coil between them.

The closing of the hooks is accomplished by a pair of clamping members 48 and 49 whose opposite faces areaccurately aligned.

with each hook 22 andat the proper time are brought together thereby closing the said hooks. The clamping members are actuated by a cam 50 which through roller 51and means of link 57 which extends between both v clamping members. The link 57 is slotted at 58. so that when the clamping member 48 is forced outwardly, the end of the slot strikes 3 against the pin 59.. The clamping member 48 is pivotally mounted at 60 and has an extension '61 which is forced against the action of spring 62 during the outward movement .of the said clamping member. The lowering of the arm 54 again rotates the shaft 55 so as to bring the clamping member .49 inwardly toward the lead wires. This inward movement of the member 49 causes the link 57 and the end of its slot to move away from the pin 59 allowing the spring 62 to force the clamping member 48 inwardly so that when its faces come in contact with the faces The mounting operation being now completed, the jaws 17 and 18 are next opened to release the filament and this is accomplished by the continued rotation of 'cam 28 f v whose high point 63 passes under the roller 27 thereby rotating the crank 24 so that its-lower arm pulls down the extension 23 through the link 25 against the action of spring 64; The lever arm 32 which rotates both jaws up to this point is now stopped from further movement by a step 65 which contacts with a pin 66 carried by the said arm. A continued downward movement of the crank arm 24 pulls down the extension 23 through the link 25. The jaw 17 now moves upwardly about the pivot 37 at the same time forcing the jaw-18 downwardly through the links 30 and 31. The jaws are now opened and remain in this position while the transfer arm 13 is swung back toward the coiling machine where another coil is in the process of formation. During this time the carrier 10 is indexed carrying the completed mount such as that shown in Fig. 4 to a position where it may be conveniently removed, at the same time bringing another mount into position to receive its filament.

While I have shown and described this mounting apparatus as used in connection with a machine such as disclosed in my co-' pending application for making lamp mounts of the type comprising two parallel wires geld together by a glass bead as shown in 1g. may. have their filaments applied. by my method and the apparatus herein shown and -described. For example, my method and apparatus may be used to advantage ing filaments on stems of the usual tipped lamp or stems such as shown in Fig. 5, for tipless lamps of the types disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 1.423.956 issued July 25, 1922, to Mitchell and White. v i

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In an apparatus of the class described,

' the combination of a source of supply of fila- I tion said filament with its ends juxtaposed ments, a carrier having thereon means for supporting a filament support comprisinga pair=of lead wires having their .ends definitely spaced, a transfer means comprising gripping members mounted so that said members may be brought into engagement with a filament at said source and then moved to posiwith the said lead wire ends, means for unit mg said lead wire and filament ends and means whereby the aforesaid means are caused to operate in proper time relation with each other. a v

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a source of supply of filaments,.a carrier having thereon means for supporting a filament support comprising a' panof lead wires having their ends definitely spaced, a

carryinggripping members and mounted so that it may 4, various other types of lamp mounts to receive and deliver a moving jaws to in mount.

' moving transfer means comprising an arm be moved to bring-said gripping 1 membersv into operative relation to a filament the said lead wire ends, means for causing saidgripping means to open to receive sai filament and thereafter to close around a portion thereof and to open after the said uniting means has operated, and means whereby the aforesaid means are caused to operate in proper time relation with each other.

3. In an apparatus of the character 'de said filaments to said wires and means whereby all of said means are caused to operate 1n.

properly timed relation.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a'carrier having means for receiving and supporting a pair of wires in properly spaced relation and having their ends shaped to receive a filament, a filament delivering means comprising a member carrying-jaws adapted to open and close filament, means for said member and for actuating said deliverindividual filaments. from a supply thereof to said wires, means for subsequently closing the shapedends of the said wires on said filaments and. means whereby all of saidmeans are caused to operate in properly timed relation. a I

5. In an apparatus of the character described, the comb'natlon of a carrier having means for receiving and supporting a pair of wires in properly spaced relation and having their ends shaped to receive a filament, a

filament d liver-ing means comprising a member carrying jaws adapted to open and close to receive and deliver a filament, meansfor said member and for actuating said jaws to deliver individual filaments from a supply thereof to said wires and for giving each filament a definite form after delivery, means for subsequently closing the shaped ends of the said wires on said filaments and means whereby all of said meansare caused to operate in properl' timed relation.

In witness whereo I have hereunto set my hand this 8th day of December, 1928.

GEORGE ILLINGWORTH.

at said source and then moved to position I 

